The system decided it was time
Why I missed last week
Last week was supposed to be business as usual. Instead, I spent the day at the hospital with my son, Skylar.
He is coming home to our house in Glorieta soon. I wish I could say it is because he has made a miraculous recovery and is ready to get back to his life. But that is not the truth.
He is coming home because his insurance provider has decided they are done paying for his hospital stay.
This is the hard reality that so many families in New Mexico face. We assume the safety nets—insurance, Medicare, Medicaid—will be there until the job is done. But often, they operate on a schedule that has nothing to do with healing. When the coverage stops, the care cannot. It just shifts the burden entirely onto the family.
This is why I talk about Reverse Mortgages (HECM) with the intensity that I do.
We often discuss these loans as financial tools for “lifestyle” or “travel.” But for many of my clients, and now very personally for me, home equity is the line of defense when the other systems fail.
When an insurance company says “no more,” a family with access to liquid cash or a line of credit has options. They can pay for in-home care. They can modify the house (like the ramp I am building). They can focus on the person, not the invoice.
For a senior on a fixed income, forced to absorb these costs while still paying a traditional mortgage, the math simply breaks. A Reverse Mortgage eliminates that monthly payment and unlocks the wealth they spent thirty years building, making it available for the moment they need it most.
It is 2025. I am 73 years old. I have fought cancer twice. I am now fighting an insurance company for my son. I know that life is not fair, and the systems we rely on are not perfect.
So, for this week’s market update, I am skipping the rate sheets. The lesson this week is about resilience.
Do your clients have a plan for when the system says “time is up”? If they are house-rich but cash-poor, they are vulnerable. Let’s help them fix that.
A Note to New Readers: If I added you to this list recently, it is because you are an active Realtor in the Santa Fe area. I write this newsletter to share real-world insights on how we can structure the “tough” files—specifically Reverse and SBA deals—to protect our local clients.
I am back at my desk in Glorieta, getting the house ready for Skylar. Let’s make this a meaningful week.